I am a noob to the coin realm and I got my hands on this the other day. I can not find anything out about it. I have searched all over to no avail. The heads side is a face with what looks like a vine or something. The tails side has what appears to be egyptian figures standing on both sides of a twisted symbol. If you could please help me figure out what this is it would be appreciated.
Hi The coin is a common 4th century Roman, probably one of the sons of Constantine. I take no responsibility for the following, but if it were my coin, i would soak it in olive oil for a week or two, then take an old toothbrush and scrub the coin vigourously. If that does not work, think of a small brass brush, but be carefull. In any case, you are talking about a coin worth less then $10, IF YOU CAN READ THE EMPEROR's name.
Wow While the history sounds correct the cleaning sounds brutal, not as brutal as less then $10 though.
I don't know about the brass brush but, otherwise what he says is true. For the most part ancient roman coins are worth about $10-$15. But of course what I say are generalizations. Like said, soak in olive oil and lightly clean with an old toothbrush, or you could use your spouses.:whistle: Hopefully someone will come along that may recognize it a little more.
Tjlogan is right. I don't know if it can be pinned down but a guess would be Constantine II. The reverse of your coin would read GLORIA EXERCITVS ( Glory to the Army) With two soldiers holding spears and shields and one standard between them. Unfortunately your coin is very corroded and worth little or nothing except maybe a smile from a kid. http://wildwinds.com/coins/ric/constantine_II/t.html
Brass brush is not over doing it for a coin like this, its a standard tool used to clean coins like this (along with a pcik). I have cleaned enough uncleaned to know this coin isnt going to clean up well...10 USD as worth would about 8 dollars too expensive IMO.